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2. Digital Radio Switchover
Willie Currie
Independent Communications Authority Of South
Africa (ICASA)
22 February 2012

3. Time to upgrade to Digital Radio in
Africa?
• With all the focus on the digital TV switchover,
there is a danger that radio will be neglected.
• Radio in Africa is the pre-eminent medium of
communication and is consumed more widely
than TV or mobile phones.
• The FM radio network is aging and it is time to
upgrade to digital radio platforms.

4. Problem Statement
• The radio industry in Africa has been shaped
more by the scarcity of analogue spectrum
than by market demand.
• Brands are built on the occupation of
frequencies as much as their content.
• In a recent licensing process in South Africa,
more than 40 applicants competed for three
frequencies in Johannesburg, Durban and
Cape Town.

5. Thought Experiment
• Let’s transcribe the thinking on digital radio in
the Digital Britain report and see what
happens.
• Radio’s diverse and flexible nature places it at
the heart of platform and device convergence.
• Digital audio content occupies relatively small
amounts of capacity and can be delivered
through a range of digital technologies, such
as digital TV and mobile broadband platforms.

6. Radio as an ambient medium
• Radio’s appeal to the listener is that is more than a
stream of audio.
• Radio is an intimate, portable and ambient medium.
• To remain true to this appeal, radio needs it’s own
dedicated digital platform such as DAB+ alongside
the other digital paths over which it can be carried.
• The costs of such a digital upgrade are not huge as
radio is a small scale medium compared to TV or
mobile broadband.

7. Limits to analogue growth
• Commercial radio revenues are limited to local
markets, delivered by on-air advertising and
sponsorship.
• This combined with the shortage of frequency
in major markets limit the growth potential for
radio in an increasingly competitive multi-
media market.

8. Potential for digital growth
• Radio needs to have greater flexibility to grow,
innovate and engage with its audience through the
delivery of new content and functionality such as
scrolling text, one-to-one traffic information and
listen again.
• These innovations can connect listeners and radio in
new ways, provide gateways to online businesses
and open up new revenue streams to the
commercial market.
• Digital radio can increase choice and diversity of
services, as is the case with digital TV.

9. What would a Digital Radio Switchover
look like?
• A period of dual `audibility’ would need to take place
similar to the dual illumination period required for
TV in which national and local DAB multiplexes are
established while services continue on FM and MW
analogue transmission.
• Once 50% of listening is on digital and national DAB
coverage is comparable to FM coverage and local
DAB reaches 90% of the population and all major
roads, then digital radio switchover can take place.

10. Digital Radio Switchover
• On the date set for Digital Radio Switchover, all
services carried on national and local DAB
multiplexes will stop broadcasting on analogue.
• At the same time, a new tier of ultra-local radio,
consisting of small local commercial stations and
community stations will occupy the vacated FM
spectrum.
• Radio services on MW will either upgrade to DAB or
if they are within the ultra-local tier to FM.

11. Digital Radio Policy
Digital Radio Policy could have a number of
aims:
1. to provide greater choice and functionality for
listeners.
2. To ensure that those listeners who can
currently access radio should continue to do so
after the switchover.
3. Local electronics manufacturers could make
DAB radio sets.

12. Benefits of digital radio platforms
• Radio is a portable medium and a digital radio
platform is the best way to deliver mobile
digital radio, especially to cars.
• It’s free at the point of access to all listeners.
• Digital radio would support a local radio
broadcasting sector providing content,
including independent content producers.

13. Just a Thought
• ICASA has set aside a number of channels for
DAB multiplexes in the VHF band.
• Should ICASA, the Department of
Communications and more broadly CRASA be
thinking about a Digital Radio Switchover?
• Should Digital Radio be on the agenda for
Africa?